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Tuesday, August 27, 2013

The Night I Outlasted Yoko Ono

Despite being a geezer, by late August I am usually deep into my annual marathon training program. But a fractured foot six weeks ago has left me humbled in the basement, logging hours on a stationary bike until I can return to ground pounding.Tonight, I scheduled a 30-minute bike session and grabbed my headphones, CD player, and The Plastic Ono Band’s Live Peace in Toronto 1969. I had this album soon after it was released, when I was in high school, but despite my Cream fixation and the album’s inclusion of Eric Clapton on guitar, I never made it all the way through both sides once I encountered the dreaded and legendarily-unlistenable Yoko cuts.
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Damn straight - make mine the audiophile version!

Who knows why I selected this disc tonight - hell, who knows why I bought it a few weeks ago - but I recall clearly thinking, “I’m only on the bike 30 minutes, I’ll be done before Yoko gets warmed up.”But as I got underway, I felt the taunting of that young Japanese woman all those decades ago. The decision was boldly made: my 30-minute ride just got expanded to 39 minutes.Maybe it’s the years I logged in training with unconventional female singers like Nina Hagen and Lydia Lunch, but each atonal bleat uttered by Yoko only made me pedal harder and faster. I refused to lose!

Hit me with your best shot, Yoko! You don't scare me...

Mercifully, it came to an end with me drenched in sweat upon hearing the final utterance of, “Give peace a chance…” But I was triumphant! I heard every second, every note - and, since I’d masochistically purchased the Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab Ultradisc II gold disc version of this release, I heard it in the best possible sound quality!Next workout: Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music…

Frank Blank, aka...

I've been writing professionally for nearly four decades, beginning with music reviews and interviews with artists ranging from Grace Slick to Robin Trower in the 1970s, then expanding my fields of interest to include motorsports, aerospace, and the national space program. My latest book project is 'Modern Listener's Guide: Jimi Hendrix,' with a foreword by Derek Trucks and an afterword by John McLaughlin. During my writing career I've authored more than a dozen nonfiction books, and contributed articles and commentary to national publications. As a musician - sometimes working under my musical alias Frank Blank - I've recorded albums both signed to record labels and independently, and performed live in an array of bands and projects. From the top of Kennedy Space Center's Pad 39A to the famous countdown clock, from the stages of a myriad of venues to arena dressing rooms, from the pits of the NHRA to NASCAR's garage area, I've been fortunate to get up close and personal with the things I love. For more, visit my website at www.loudfast.net

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